Industrial Research Fund (Industrieel Onderzoeksfonds - IOF)

VUB TechTransfer supports projects financed by the Industrial Research Fund (IOF). Flemish universities receive this government funding according to their valorization output performance: contracts with industry, the number of patents and spin-offs, share in the European Framework Programme for R&D.

The VUB invests IOF funding in IOF knowledge centers that exceed the average scale of a standard university’s research unit. The funding supports them in carrying out outstanding strategic research and developing new application-oriented inventions with economic potential.

The first priority of the IOF funding is the further establishment of a portfolio of potentially applicable and transferable know-how with economic and societal value. It also finances short-term proof-of-concept projects.